Kyle Goon: The Orioles were right to pick Pete Alonso as their star. He’s already one of us.

The Orioles are paying Pete Alonso $31 million this year. It makes me wonder how, exactly, you can put a dollar value on how often he puts a twinkle in a fan’s eye.

Every time I see Alonso interact with a fan, I see that sparkle, a mixture of warmth and awe that comes from meeting our biggest sports heroes. It’s that wonderful surge of reassurance when people realize that Pete might just be as nice as they’ve heard.

On Thursday night — one of the Orioles’ all-too-rare off days late into a grueling season — Pete and his wife Haley were taking pictures with attendees of their movie night at Camden Yards, an event benefitting their chosen charity. There was a pet adoption station for the Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter, which has quickly become one of the family’s biggest causes. They hosted a silent auction with sports memorabilia ranging from a Steph Curry jersey to a Ric Flair-signed WWE belt.

But there was no greater attraction — and really, there is no greater attraction any night at Camden Yards this season — than Alonso himself.

Hot off an emotional return series to Citi Field, where he’s so missed that Mets fans serenaded him while chanting for firings in their own front office, Alonso put on the smile for a few more hours, all in the name of getting a little closer to his Baltimore neighbors.

“The people here have been awesome,” he told me. “Every day, it’s like, man, you understand why the nickname is Charm City.”

Alonso is one to talk about charm. As he’s more than lived up to his contract, he’s asserted himself into a role that the Orioles needed as badly as a home run-hitting slugger: And so far, he’s been a natural face of Baltimore’s franchise.

It’s no secret I have not always seen eye-to-eye with the Orioles’ front office. But in this case, I have to hand it to Mike Elias: Signing Alonso has been one of the season’s biggest successes. The Orioles should have a better record, but you can’t fault Alonso, who has carried them in more ways than one.

After the trade deadline on Aug. 3, I tapped my watch and declared the season dead. Thanks in large part to Alonso’s insane 1.026 OPS during the month, the Orioles have stubbornly clung to an admittedly slim chance at the wild card — but a chance all the same. Alonso’s production (as pointed out by my colleague Jon Meoli) has exceeded even his contract value this year.

But that doesn’t give the complete picture of why Alonso has been so successful in Baltimore. I wrote earlier this year that he was seeking a deeper connection to the city. While we’re a ways off from Alonso bringing a World Series to town, he’s already established himself as a fan favorite.

There are athletes who struggle with the weight of expectations, with the weight of ever-present fans who want their picture or their autograph, or stand at the ready to invasively document their lives for social media.

As far as I can tell, Alonso seems to take this all in stride. He has a superpower of bringing fans joy, and he doesn’t shy away from it. He gets it.

Folks in New York and beyond have seized upon this week’s clip of Alonso meeting the Mets fans who tracked down his 300th home run ball. Alonso offered to sign whatever baseballs, bats, or jerseys the trio wanted — including their requested message: “Thanks for the 300.” He offered tickets for a game at Camden Yards.

If you were the fan meeting Alonso face-to-face, what else could you want from that meeting? Nothing. There’s nothing perfunctory or forced about it. Alonso made them feel like he was excited to spend time with them.

Even when I asked Alonso about it Thursday, he emphasized that the fans were the ones doing him the favor.

“It could have been like, ‘This is a sick boys trip and we’re gonna keep this,’” he said. “But they were like, ‘Hey, we’re gonna do the right thing.’ And I’m really, really stoked that they were like, ‘Hey we need to do that.’”

For his part, Alonso doesn’t need to be this personable. He doesn’t need to take as much time as he does for the Mets and now the Orioles faithful. But he does. And over the course of the season, it’s obvious how much it means to the people who meet him. The same adoration that led Mets fans to nearly riot in his return to Queens is taking root in Baltimore, and in the next four years, I suspect fans will feel the same level of attachment.

His 300th career home run is a milestone he’s paying forward. He told me his foundation is going to linger on that number: donating 300 meals to hospital workers; donating 300 care packages to veterans in need; and covering 300 pet adoption fees. This is a man who, when he experiences success, feels compelled to share it.

“When you get to represent a city and embody a city, people appreciate that,” he said. “That’s why we’re putting this event on — because my wife and I have been nothing but appreciative of the city and the fans and everybody that has welcomed us here.”